


Reaching Beyond Phantoms.

by OtakuJeannie



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: AU: THe Phantom Pain, Angst, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, M/M, Major Spoilers, Slow build., Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 14:02:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4831784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtakuJeannie/pseuds/OtakuJeannie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phantom Pain AU;<br/>Big Boss awakens in Cypress and finds himself saddled with an unexpected mission.</p>
<p>Will contain major spoilers for The Phantom Pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waking up.

The first thing John knew after the crash was the harsh overhead glare of lights and strange music that didn't quite settle into his mind. “A hospital?” John asked himself as the world began to slowly come into focus.

“Now there's a sight worth waking up to.” John thought to himself as his remaining eye focused on the cleavage of a nurse leaning over him to adjust some equipment. His enjoyment of the view was short lived as he noticed a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. The gray specter of the man was looking down at him, face ever in his perpetual grin.

The nurse left while another brought in some lilies for the vase by his bedside, he thought he caught the moment of another from the shifting shadows on the curtain to his left. Suddenly the nurse noticed that John was awake and in her haste to inform others knocked over the radio and left him in silence.

The Sorrow walked casually to the foot of his bed and mouthed the words “We will talk soon.” before disappearing.

 

Over the course of the next couple of days, John wished that he could have another nine years to rest. First there had been the doctor patiently trying to guide him through the changes his body had gone through over the last nine years, then there had been the restless nights. There had been a constant barrage of nightmares that John had awoken to the sensation of being watched. 

Aside from the glimpses of The Sorrow hovering over the back of his bed, John swore he saw a second man in the shadows, watching him with unblinking eyes. John slipped back into an uneasy sleep and wondered how long until he would be able to leave this place with it's suffocating care.

John could do little more than hold shakily onto the mirror as he watched his nurse being strangled by a female soldier right before him while the doctor tried in vain to hypnotize him. The very danger he was trying to warn John about being was right behind him. Guilt flooded John as he struggled to find his voice to try and save one of the people who had taken such good care of him. 

The doctor struggled in vain against the intruder, knocking him to the floor in the process and John could no longer focus on the other man's dying actions as his attention was held by the weapon the doctor had tried to defend himself with. The gun, if only John could get to it. John fought with his body to get to him. 

The next few minutes were a blur as the soldier attacked John and the patient from the other bed fended her off.

“OK Ahab time to go.” John felt his eye widen as the patient whose face was covered with bandages spoke and started try and lift him. The man in the plain hospital gown had sounded just like him.

“What about the woman?” John asked, hoping that she was still alive, she would be useful for extracting information from. 'Not too hard on the eyes either.' John thought.

“We gave her a light, she took the short way down.” There was an oddness to the other man's words, like he was trying to fish out the right string.

“Who are you?” John asked his mysterious savior, hating how weak his voice sounded.

"Who am I? You're talking to yourself. Been watching over you for nine years and call me Ishmael." Ismael’s lips twitched as if he wanted to smile but had thought better of it. "The good news is you're in the land of the living, the bad news is the world wants you dead." There was a hint of irritation in Ismael’s voice at the last part of this sentence. “Now on your feet soldier, the whole place is coming down.” Ishmael said with a grunt as he made one final attempt to lift John from the floor.

John struggled to keep up as Ishmael crept through the silent and dark halls. Something was going on. Was the hospital being attacked? Unfortunately, John knew some people who would gladly slaughter innocents in order to get to him, like the monster Skullface whose sinister plans had landed him here. 

When Ishmael decided that the stairs weren't going to be a viable option John nearly sighed in relief as they headed towards the elevator. John could feel his voice getting stronger and soon he could ask Ishmael why he sounded just like him. 

An ominous feeling overcame John as he noticed a small figure in dark clothes with bright red hair before the elevator. "A gasmask?" John asked himself mentally. Suddenly, the figure rose in the air, the straps of his, straightjacket? lighting on fire as he rose into the ceiling. 

 

Nothing good could be coming from that elevator, John could just tell as he licked his suddenly dry lips. Seconds later John was proven right as the elevator opened and what could only be described as a demon stepped out. 

"Am I in Hell?" John thought as he was thrown back by the force of the explosion the towering figure of flame had sent his way. Volgan, it looked like the man he had faced on the mission he had killed The Boss. The creature stomped towards John and Ismael, adrenaline starting to hit John's bloodstream and his soldier training kicking in at last. 

John let instinct take over as he followed Ismael through the hospital. It helped squash down the fear as he navigated the hospital crawling with Skullface's men with nothing but a pair of thin and tearing pants and a hook on the stump of his arm that he had yet to learn. Even when he was able to obtain a gun from a fallen enemy it did little to dispel the feeling of nakedness that John felt.

After what seemed like an eternity, John and Ismael made it to the ground floor, and freedom seemed so close. Even Ismael's sudden departure to provide cover could not dampen the spirits of the man known as Big Boss. He was perfectly at home on the battlefield and the fact that this was a civilian filled hospital had ceased to matter after witnessing the butchering of staff and patient alike. 

The flaming specter of Volgan, however did give John a slight shift to his priorities as he struggled in vain to hide from the creature, watching as the XOF futilely fought with both Volgan's corpse and the floating child from the elevator. 

"What is that...thing" Big Boss thought to himself as he watched the wreaked remains of a helicopter float in the air, rotors slicing the XOF forces to ribbons at the command of the gasmask wearing creature, for there was no way in John's mind that this creature could ever be human. John fled through the now cleared doorway, Volgan giving chase

Ishmael drove an ambulance over Volgan and threw open the door calling for Big Boss to get in, an unnecessary command as far as John was concerned. Firetrucks passed them as they drove away from the hospital. Big Boss watched his companion more than the road as they drove away. He took in the pale skin and chapped lips. His concentration was broken when a helicopter attacked the ambulance and knocked Ismael out. Hastily John grabbed the wheel and split his attention between waking his companion and steering the ambulance.

"Give me a break." Big Boss thought as he glanced forward just in time to see the roadblock XOF had erected in the road just before they plowed into it. Glass and pills flew everywhere as the world spun. 

"Come on, we need to get out now." Ishmael said slapping Big Boss's face lightly to wake him.  John glared at the other man but followed him out of the ambulance. He heard the whiny of a horse and approaching hoof beats.  "About time." Ismael grumbled irritably. John undid his seat belt and carefully twisted his body to maneuver outside the overturned vehicle.

 

"Shit," Big Boss thought as the searchlights of a helicopter overhead. Red hair glinted in the light as the demon-child appeared and seemed almost amused as he pointed at the helicopter. "Proud of calling that towar-oh my god." Big Boss's thoughts were derailed as a large flame of whale appeared on the horizon and consumed the aircraft. 

"This is far beyond what I bargained for Shalshaka!" Ismael said, Adam's voice called out as Ocelot rode up on a white horse. Big Boss looked between the two of them. 

"I did promise you excitement, Esteban." Ocelot replied with a smirk. "Now go, like we planned." "What's going on here?" Big Boss asked irritably.

"It's rather simple. In order to buy you time enough to recover, I'm going to be you for a while, at least as far as your enemies are concerned, even spun a rather creative yarn if I do get captured." Esteban said with a nod towards Ocelot. 

"Your ride's over in the bushes, Decoy Boss." Ocelot said as suddenly the sounds of a second horse could be heard. Disbelief filled the three as they saw the man on fire bounding towards them riding a flaming unicorn. "Maybe I didn't wake up after all" was all that John could think as he climbed up behind Ocelot and they rode off leaving Ismael to dive towards the waiting motorcycle.


	2. Reflections of an Ocelot

Ocelot watched as Big Boss retired into his room to sleep. Guilt seeped into him with every labored step and every lurch of the whaling ship they were on. On one hand, John had finally woken up and Ocelot had been able to save him from XOF. On the other hand despite the actions of him, the Decoy Boss and Miller, Skullface now knew that fact and would have a good idea of where to find Big Boss to finish him off. 

Speaking of Miller, Ocelot wished that he didn't have to tell Big Boss about his business partner so quickly after waking but time was ebbing away quickly. John did not deserve to loose his closest friend just because Ocelot was jealous of the relationship between the two men. Still, Ocelot had spared Big Boss and perhaps Miller the knowledge of what XOF had done to Miller's bodyguards. They had been good soldiers and good men but now all that remained were mangled corpses dropped in the unforgiving desert, too far to be extracted and an addition to the list of reasons for revenge. 

Revenge, it was a spirit that they all longed to drink deeply of to reduce the pain they had all felt. Ocelot had the lightest of it, merely his heart and dreams alongside with his security of standing to the side and playing whatever side most suited him. Big Boss had lost nine years of his prime, his body ravaged and many dear to his heart. Miller had lost his dreams, his sense of security and his family in his brothers in arms, and Ocelot shuttered to think what else the Soviets had taken from him in captivity.

Sleep would not come easy to Ocelot, but there were ways. Big Boss would need support that was sharp and able to give him everything he needed to succeed.

“Having trouble boss?” Ocelot said as he watched Big Boss scowl at his lack of being able to load a gun with his prosthetic hooks. That was not going to do, perhaps they could cobble together a hand with the tinkering one of Emerich's interns had done on Galvez's hand. It could be done quickly but in the meantime there was so much work to do to get Big Boss back into optimum shape.

It felt like a lifetime until watched Big Boss gallop down the path that would lead to Miller, a warm up that would bring the legend back from it's long hibernation.

“This is Pequod arriving at landing zone shortly.” The helicopter pilot announced sounding almost eager as Ocelot could hear the rotors overhead. Ocelot dismounted and smiled to himself as the sound got louder. The helicopter landed without incident and the pilot was obviously looking around eagerly before he exited the cockpit and opened the bay doors.

“I'm afraid you missed the boss by about ten minutes,” Ocelot said with a grin. “But don't worry, I am sure he will be calling for a ride to his new home before you know it.” The pilot seemed a little disappointed but helped Ocelot with his horse before returning to the cockpit for takeoff. “Take care John, I've got to set up our new home.” Ocelot replied fondly watching the ground get smaller and keeping a hand on the horse's reins to keep her calm.


End file.
